Trouble At Home
by KarissaEB
Summary: My new Taiora romance/drama! It was just supposed to be a romance, but once I got further along it was more of a drama. So there ya go. Okay, Sora is having trouble at home and Tai has to help her... I stink at summaries... so just read and review, kay
1. ch.1

Trouble at Home  
by Kari

_A/N: This fic hits close to home for me... I really hope you guys like it! TAIORA!!!!!!!!!!! ^_^ R&R, pleeeeeeeeeeeease people, for the love of pete, review!! (You know, I've always wondered who pete was... ^_-) I own nothing. Again, I'd like to thank Logan for all he does... I can't thank him enough... he's helped me with some stuff that's been going on with me... to some extent, what is happening in this fic. I'd also like to thank everyone who has stuck with me and even who has only started to read my fics. I love you all! Hikari-chan, Destiny, ROBSTER80, Aushie, and all of you other authors that read my stuff (or, I read theirs ^_^) I luv you guys! This is just part one, there's more, but I'm not done with it yet... this is the first time I've ever posted a fic without being finished with it first... I won't keep you all waiting long though, I'll have the next part out soon! ^_^ Now that I actually know where I'm going with this story I'll have it done sooner!_

_Kari :)_

_********************- indicates a flashback_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"SORA TAKENOUCHI!!!"

Sora stirred in her bed, not wanting to get up. She closed her eyes tightly and breathed deeply, pretending to be asleep. Her mother's angry footsteps could be heard pounding down the hallway towards her room... Sora felt an all too familiar fear settle in her stomach and her heart raced, but she remained motionless, still pretending to be sleeping.

Ms. Takenouchi burst into Sora's room with a blast of anger-charged air. Sora could feel her mother's mysterious rage pushing down on her, and she inconspicuously clutched tighter to the pillow she rested her head on. Her breathing was quiet, shuddering, uneven as she awaited her mother's shouts.

"Sora Takenouchi, you better wake up right now you lazy mess for a daughter!"

Sora's fear quickly turned to anger as well... it simmered deep inside her like lava in a volcano. She slowly turned her head to face her mother and scowled coldly at her.

"I'm up..." she fumed in an icily low, quiet voice.

"Good! Now maybe you can make yourself useful for a change."

Sora's mother stormed out of the room, no doubt to gather a list of things for Sora to do. Sora rolled her eyes dramatically and muttered a few choice four-letter words under her breath. Sora usually never cussed, but when her mother was like this... her anger had its own free reign on her tongue.

Sora climbed out of bed and threw on a pair of black bootcut pants and a red long-sleeved shirt that her best friend, Taichi Kamiya, had gotten her for her birthday that year. It had replaced the old yellow no-sleeved shirt she had worn that one summer when she first traveled to the Digiworld as her favorite shirt... it smelled distinctly of Tai, and even though it was made of a thin fabric, it gave Sora a strange feeling of warmth every time she wore it... no matter how cold it was outside. She smoothed the shirt down with her hands, smiling lightly, thinking of him lovingly. _*Oh Tai... if only you knew...*_ she thought to herself.

*******************Sora sat in her room, looking miserably out of her window. Her birthday was last week, and Tai still hadn't said anything to her about it. Well, no... that wasn't completely true... he _had_ told her, through Kari that is, happy birthday, but other than that, she hadn't heard his voice at all. That was very unusual for Tai. She and Taichi had been best friends ever since they knew what a best friend was, and were practically inseparable. 

For instance, when Sora moved to Odaiba when she was 9, Tai had secretly locked himself in the trunk of the Takenouchi's car and when they had opened it to get all the boxes and things out, out popped Tai, grinning his same lopsided, funny grin that Sora had long since fallen for. Since they had been so far away from Heighton View Terrace, Tai was allowed to spend the weekend at Sora's new apartment... a sort of last request kind of thing, for when Tai returned home, his parents were going to kill him for doing what he had done. Of course, they had never done so... but he was in DEEP trouble when he got home. He helped the Takenouchis settle into their new home and spent all of his time at Sora's side. 

That was just one thing she could think of... there were a billion times that she and Tai had been together. Especially in the Digiworld... when she was upset that her crest wouldn't glow and he told her the crest was perfect for her and helped her to get ther crest to glow, and he tried to make her laugh when she was sad; the time she was kidnapped by Datamon and Tai came to her rescue; that time when they had returned to Heighton View Terrace to look for who turned out to be Tai's little sister Kari and he had thrown himself upon her when she was in danger of being hit by Mammothmon's attack; when he and she were under the control of Puppetmon and were transported to a secluded area away from the others - how she had tried desperately to help him down or at least flip him right side up when he was twisted upside-down in the air - the laughs they had shared trying to do so, even though they were scared out of their wits; when he promised her he wouldn't let anything happen to her when they were facing Puppetmon's mansion; when Tai had asked her to take care of Kari for him while he went out and searched for medicationns and told her he was leaving his sister in good hands; when she had been so worried about making Tai proud of her that she was sucked into a cave similar to the one Matt had unknown to her recently escaped from, even though Tai had been proud of her all along; when they had fought side by side during the battles with Piedmon and Apocalymon, and every other battle as well...

The memories rushed through her head in a frenzy... once second they were relived and enjoyed, the next second they were gone and another had taken its place. Tai and Sora had been together more than ever in the Digiworld, and both of them loved every minute of it. Even though Sora teased him at times, and he made fun of her, they remained best friends through it all and stuck by each other... looked out for each other... helped each other through thick and thin. 

But now... Tai was being so distant... she couldn't figure out why. Had she done something wrong? She felt tears rising to her eyes, and she tried to swallow them, but to no avail... the dams broke and Sora cried rivers... that is, until the doorbell rang. Sora's mother wasn't home, so she figured it was Ms. Takenouchi at the door, probably full handed, as she usually was coming back home from running however many errands she ran a day. She tried to dry her tears on her sleeve, but her eyes were still red and puffy when she opened the door.

"T-Tai!" Sora gasped in surprise. 

"Hey Sora," Tai said quietly, shamefully bowing his head and lifting only his eyes to look at her. Sora loved when he did that... he looked just like the small boy that had popped out of the trunk of her mother's car, grinning wildly... even at his age of 15. (_Eh, so it's not that old... it feels old to me! ...Yes, I'm 15, I'll be 16 in two months. Now you know. ^_^)_ Sora smiled at his cute expression, but then hers quickly turned to one of anger. 

"_**WHERE have you been Tai, my birthday was last week and all I get from you is a happy birthday from Kari's mouth?!**_ " 

Sora crossed her arms and stood defiantly before Tai, watching him wince and raise his hand to an ear in pain. Yes, she loved him dearly, but he made her SO mad sometimes. _*He'd better have a good reason for missing my birthday for the first time in 13 years...*_ she thought angrily. 

"I... I'm so sorry Sora, my parents grounded me, and they wouldn't let me talk to you... they knew that would be the worst thing they could ever do to me." 

Sora's angry expression turned quizzical. "Huh?"

"They know I hate being away from you... so they used it as my punishment." 

Sora's heart fluttered and caught in her throat. Tai loved being around her so much that his parents used keeping him away from her as a punishment? _*I hope they don't give mama any ideas,*_ she thought happily. Sora smiled sweetly at Tai, then grinned mockingly. "Geez Tai, what was so bad that they unleashed they ultimate punishment on you?" 

"I failed three classes."

"That's it?"

"Yeah... but it's the ultimate sin to them, so I got the ultimate punishment." Tai's gaze remained sullenly on the floor, and suddenly, Sora began laughing hysterically. Tai looked up at her as she doubled over in laughter. Tai grinned, then smiled, then flat out joined her in laughter. Tai always thought Sora's laugh was infectious... he loved it so much, and it always made him happy enough to laugh even if nothing was the least bit funny. 

"W... what's... so funny?" Tai managed through his laughs. 

"I... don't remember," Sora giggled. They laughed even harder at this. Tai was bending over clutching his stomach and Sora was sitting on the floor, tears rolling down her cheeks. They finally calmed down, but they were definitely in better spirits. 

"So what are you doing here?" Sora smiled, wiping her tears from under her eyes. Tai's face was blank for a moment, and then lit up.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot..." Tai reached into his bag that he had brought with him... apparently he had just finished soccer practice, seeing as how his hair was still a bit damp from his shower. He pulled out a beautifully wrapped package. "Happy birthday Sora," he said sweetly. 

"Better late than never," Sora joked as she accepted Tai's gift and ripped off the wrapping paper. She pulled out a beautiful red long-sleeved shirt with a v-neck made of a thin fabric. She spread it out before her and admired it. "Oh Tai, I love it," she breathed. 

"That's not all of it."

Sora looked again in the box and saw a smaller, rectangular box. She looked at it in anticipation and reached for it. She opened the box with trembling fingers that she tried to conceal from Tai and pulled out a silver heart locket. She opened it and saw no pictures, but instead saw the crest of love engraved on one side and the crest of courage on the other. 

"....!" Sora was speechless as she dangled it in front of her, lookin wide eyed at it. 

"Well, you're not supposed to look at it!" Tai said playfully. He took it from her hand, brushing hers gently with his as he did so, causing them both to blush a bit, and un-did the clasp. Sora held her hand to her chest in a loose fist as he gently placed the locket around her neck. 

"There..." he smoothed down the chain with his rough fingers, which sent chills down Sora's spine. "Now, let me look at you," Tai said, softly turning Sora around to face him. He looked her over, overexaggerating his concentration, sending Sora into a fit of giggles. He finished looking her over and nodded in satisfaction. "Perfect." 

Sora smiled, and then held up a small card that she had found at the bottom of the box. It bore a simple message:

_You always looked good in red. You better wear this on our first date!   
Best friends forever!  
Love always,  
Tai_

Sora looked up with a shocked expression at Tai's widely grinning face. 

"Our... first date?" 

"Sure! Whenever you want...we've got to go on a date sooner or later, don't we?" Tai said playfully. 

"Of course I'll go on a date with you, Tai!" Sora smiled as happy tears filled her eyes. "I'm so glad you got grounded!" she said happily as she flung her arms around Tai's neck and hugged him tightly. He hugged her back, just as he had done so many times before. Yet this time it seemed deeper than usual.

"I'm not sure if that's a good thing, but I'm glad I did too."***************************

"SORA!"

Sora narrowed her eyes in anger as her mother's shrill yell broke through her happy thoughts. Sora glanced at her expression in the full length mirror on her closet door as she passed, not recognizing the face that scowled back at her because of the sheer hate plastered on her face.

"SORA, GET IN HERE NOW!!"

Sora dragged herself as slowly as possible to the kitchen, simply to spite her mother. From the look Sora saw on her mother's face when she finally reached the kitchen, it had worked.

"About time," Ms. Takenouchi said coldly. Sora narrowed her eyes even more and angrily tightened her lips. She flexed every muscle in her body to try and release some of the anger that was building within her, to no avail. She was SO close to strangling her mother with her bare hands. Ms. Takenouchi turned her back on her daughter and gathered a few papers and things from the kitchen counter. _*Now's my chance...*_ Sora thought blindly, clenching her fists. Sora was too slow to do anything, because her mother turned back to face her with her arms full of things.

"Now Sora, go put these away where they go, and then the paper I gave you has some errands I want you to run." 

Sora stood stock still as her mother dumped her load into Sora's arms. She remained standing in her position with an icy look on her face. 

"Are you deaf, girl? I SAID MOVE IT!"

Sora reluctantly spun around on her heel and headed towards her room. She entered it in a huff and dumped her armload onto her bed. Sora sat and looked at the pile of stuff her mother had given her and sighed in frustration. She picked up the paper, which had half a page of errands she had to run today. _*There goes my date with Tai...*_ she thought, her eyes filling with tears.

*******************Sora propped up her head with an arm on the cashier's counter in the flower shop. She was so bored... business was slow today. She closed her eyes and listened to someone come in the shop. She didn't even bother to open her eyes to see who it was... probably a bad move on her part, but she was tired. She only mumbled, "Take your time," to whoever was shopping. A few minutes later, Sora smelled flowers in front of her face. 

"I'm ready now," a familiar voice said playfully. Sora opened her eyes and looked into a loving pair of chocolate brown ones, very close to her own. She straightened herself in surprise. 

"Tai! What are you doing here?" she asked in shock. Tai came to the shop to visit her sometimes, but he was supposed to be at soccer practice today.

"Soccer was cancelled because of something the coach had to do today, I think his wife finally went into labor or something." 

"That's great!" Sora exclaimed, her old coach's face appearing in her mind. Tai stood at the counter expectantly.

"What?" she queried.

"I want to pay for these." Sora's face was blank for a moment, and then lit up with hope. 

"O...okay," Sora stammered as she rang up the bouquet. "They're very beautiful," she commented as she examined them to determine the correct price. "Who are they for?"

"A girl even more beautiful than they are."

Sora's heart sank, but she tried not to show it. _*No way they could be for me then,*_ she thought sadly. 

"Eighteen dollars," she read from the cash register. She looked up at Tai and watched as he pulled a twenty from his wallet. 

"Here ya go," he said with a smirk. Sora began to pull out his change, but he stopped her. 

"You can keep it, but only on one condition."

"What?" She looked at him with a curious expression. He held out the flowers to her. "Why are you giving these back, you just paid for them."

"It's not that hard to figure out... they're for you," he said softly, a small blush appearing on his bronzed cheeks. Sora was taken aback... what had he said? That they were for a girl more beautiful than the bouquet? But... that meant...

"Only if you take these and if you go with me on that date you promised me can you keep that extra two bucks," Tai grinned. Sora looked up and him and smiled sweetly, gladly accepting the bouquet.

"Sure Tai, that'd be great!" She grinned slyly at him. "You did pay me, after all." Tai laughed.

"Great! I'll see you tomorrow at three then!"

"Three!?"

"Yeah, why not?"

"It's just that..."

"It's a little early? Is that a problem?"

"Of course not!"

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow then!" With that, Tai walked out of the shop, glancing back at her when he reached the door, smiling, and then continuing to wherever he was going. Sora smelled her bouquet of flowers and sighed happily. _*Tai asked me on a date...*_ she repeated over and over again in her mind dreamily.

"SORA TAKENOUCHI, what _are_ you doing with those flowers???"

Sora looked back at her mother in surprise. "Tai just came in and bought them for me," she answered casually. 

"I'm sure... where did he go then?" her mother said a bit suspiciously.

"He just left... what are you trying to say, mama?"

"Put them back... _**now.**_" Ms. Takenouchi growled.

"But he bought them for me, they're mine!" Sora cried. 

"Maybe I should tell him what you're saying... wouldn't that be embarrassing for you." 

"Go ahead, you'll see I'm not lying."

"Well, let's just call them right now, shall we!" Sora's mother stormed to the phone and dialed the Kamiya's number. She was good friends with Mrs. Kamiya and had been since high school, so she had it memorized. 

"Hello?" a young female voice answered.

"Hello, is this Kari?"

"Yes, this is she, who is this?" 

"Hello dear, this is Sora's mother, is Tai home?"

"Um... no, he went to buy flowers for Sora, to ask her on a date or something," Kari answered in a partly playful, partly awkward, but mostly happy voice. "I guess he's been talking to TK, that's what he did for me." 

"Uh... oh... okay, thank you Kari."

"No problem!"

Sora's mother hung up the phone. The look on her face caused a feeling of triumph to rise in Sora's chest. 

"See?" Sora glared at her mother.

"Well... just don't show them off!" Mrs. Takenouchi sputtered in an angry, frustrated, and slightly embarrassed tone, and with that she stormed back to the back of the shop once more. Sora wanted to cry, but held back her tears. How could her mother even assume that she had been lying? How could she not believe that Tai had asked her out...?*********************

"Stupid mom..." Sora mumbled to herself, tears clouding her eyes. That day was when her mother had _really_ started being cruel to her, and for no reason at all. Ms. Takenouchi would yell at her daughter to get up out of bed... first thing in the morning, so Sora couldn't possibly have done anything wrong yet. That would start Sora's day off badly... and the bad mood she had gotten from her mother's yelling would continue on throughout the entire day. When Ms. Takenouchi got really mad, she would hurt Sora... usually no more than grabbing her arm gruffly and squeezing tightly or hitting her... Sora's mother even smacked her a few times across the face. Ms. Takenouchi would make Sora's life a living hell the entire day... at least when Sora wasn't with Tai. Tai could make all the bad feelings disappear... he always made her feel better. And she had plenty today that she would've loved for him to get rid of. Sora sighed in exasperation and reluctantly made her way out of the apartment, grabbing her jacket on the way.

It was late October, and the fall weather had set in weeks ago. The leaves on the slowly thinning trees had already turned numerous shades of orange, red, brown, green, and yellow. Wind blew mercilessly and tried desperately in its own little game to knock all of the leaves off of the trees as soon as it could to rid the trees of their multicolored coats and prepare them for winter. Already fallen leaves blew about in miniature whirlwinds on the ground. This day was so brisk that Sora could see her breath being expelled from her mouth in small white puffs as she hurried through the streets. She ran all of her short errands, dropped (literally) the things she had gotten at home, and then made her way to the flower shop, which her mother had told her to watch for the rest of the day.

As Sora made her way to the flower shop, her mind wandered to the past years of her life... they were almost all filled with Tai. Tai had always been a major part of her life, as her mother and Tai's mother had been good friends in high school and had kept in touch ever since. Tai had been born only a few weeks before Sora had, and they had been together in the hospital for a few days in the nursery. Tai had had some health problems when he was born, something like a cold but for an infant, so the doctors kept him at the hospital for a few weeks after he was born so as to prevent any further sickness. 

Sora's memories stretched to kindergarten, and to she and Tai's first day of school. Their mothers had been so clingy that day that when they weren't looking, Tai had grabbed Sora's hand and pulled her into the school and away from their moms. They had gotten lost inside the large building before actually finding their class... and a couple of angry mothers. 

A couple years later, Sora and Tai started playing soccer together on a community team. They had continued doing so for years. They went to soccer camp every year together... except that one, when they were eleven... that summer they had gone to a regular summer camp together. All they had wanted to do was go to the lake together, but then that blizzard hit... that summer they met not just five, but twelve new friends when they were sucked into the Digiworld for the first time. 

All the times, the countless times that Tai and Sora had spent together there... the times they had saved each other's lives, the first time either of them truly realized the depth of their feelings for each other... so many memories of the Digiworld and the Digimon. Following that summer, Tai and Sora had been closer than ever. All of the group had, but especially Tai and Sora, TK and Kari, and Joe and Mimi. Matt and Izzy were always around, and they were just as close to everybody as everyone else was, but they didn't have the deep bonds that the three pairs had with one another. Matt had his guitar and Izzy had... _too_ deep a bond with his computer... Sora smiled faintly and chuckled to herself when she thought fondly of her computer whiz friend and his prized possession. Izzy treated that old Pineapple laptop like money... he never left home without it. 

Her mind again wandered back to Tai... he was everything Sora had ever dreamed of. She had heard Matt had a thing for her awhile back, and she tried not to hurt his feelings, but she never had any feelings of that kind for Matt. He eventually got over her, especially when his singing career took off and he had girls lined up for miles to go out with him. But Tai... she always had him...

Sora reached the flower shop. There was NO one there... the whole street was pretty much deserted. Not surprising... it was freezing outside. Sora shivered and pulled her jacket tighter around her, rubbing her arms in an attempt to warm them. She fumbled with the key with trembling hands and eventually opened the door to the shop, rushing inside and feeling the heat of the store descend on her, warming her almost instantly. Sora hung her coat in the back of the store and proceeded with her assignment... she sat there and watched the shop. After about an hour, Sora looked up at the clock that was hung on the wall. It read 4:23 pm. _*I hope he doesn't get mad...*_ Sora thought to herself. 

She closed her eyes and leaned her head on her left hand, massaging her temples with the tips of her middle finger and thumb of her right hand. She suddenly felt the urge to cry creep up on her, but she swallowed it. If her mother walked in, crying would show that Sora was upset with her mother and that Ms. Takenouchi had won over her. If any customer walked in, they would be scared off by her sobbing. If her Taichi walked in... well, if he walked in, she didn't know what she would do. But her efforts were in vain... she opened her eyes to see small puddles of salty tears forming on the counter. This was too much for her to see. The bottled up emotion she had been holding inside her finally released itself, but not before Sora turned the sign that hung on the door to where it displayed the word "closed".

She prayed her mother wouldn't walk by... she'd probably smack Sora for closing the shop too early. Sora walked slowly to the center of the shop and by her favorite display of flowers... Sora had made it soon after Tai came to the flower shop that one day - it was the bouquet he had bought for her. She kept the flowers here so they would last longer. Sora stopped in midstride and collapsed onto the floor, her legs crossed and askew and her head buried in her hands. She cried for what seemed like hours... and hours... and hours. At one point, she thought she had heard someone come in, but she had locked the front door and her sorrow was too great for her to really care enough to check it out. She cried, and cried, and cried. She felt totally alone.. yet she could almost feel a presence there with her. She couldn't put her finger on it, but she had felt this presence before... she didn't pay attention to figuring out the strange presence's origin however... she just cried. When she had cried until she had no more tears left, she looked up at the clock on the wall. 

"OH MY GOD!" she cried as she jumped up off of the floor. Instead of the clock, she saw a pair of chocolate brown eyes staring worriedly into her own. 

"AHH!" the bearer of the eyes yelped as her fell back in surprise. Sora regained her composure and looked to the person who she had opened her eyes to. 

"TAI KAMIYA, DON'T YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN!" she screamed, clutching her chest and trying to catch her breath. Tai sat up straight and looked startled at Sora. 

"I... I..."

"You scared me to death, Tai!" Sora closed her mouth as a realization hit her. "Wait a minute..."

"What?"

"When did you get here, and how did you get in without me hearing you?" Tai grinned at her as her knees hit the floor as she slumped to it, baffled. 

"Well, I got here around 5, since we were supposed to go out today, and I knew you wouldn't have cancelled without telling me, so I came here, and here you were... crying your eyes out on the floor.... so I came in through the back since the front door was locked."

"So I DID hear someone come it... no wonder I felt someone with me. Why didn't you say anything?"

"I didn't know what to say..." Sora kneeled on the floor across from Tai and looked into his eyes. Tai stared back into hers. "Sora... tell me..."

"Tell you what Tai? _**Nande?**_" she said loudly. (_A/N: "WHAT?!")_ Sora became agitated, glaring at Tai unexpectedly. Tai's face reflected his hurt, concern, and confusion perfectly, and Sora felt a twinge of guilt twist in the deepest recessions of her heart. Why was she being so mean to Tai? So much like... like her mother? Sora's face twisted from anger to extreme distress as she again felt her eyes brimming with tears. She refused to cry in front of her best friend... but she had to. She had kept all this emotion inside her, and she desperately wanted to share it with Tai. She wanted him to feel her pain, her joy, her love for him. This would make them as one. 

"Sora... daijoubu ka?" (_A/N: "Are you okay?")_ Tai asked worriedly. Sora couldn't speak, for fear that her voice would fail her. She simply shook her head furiously. "Sora, tell me... aino-chan..." (_"Sweetheart"_)

Sora looked up, her eyes wide. He had never called her _that_ before... 

"What did you call me?" she whispered.

"Aino-chan..." Tai stared into her teary eyes. "Please aino-chan, tell me what's wrong... maybe I can help you..." 

Sora stared at the ground. "Please Sora, ai shiteru! Please let me help you!" (_"I love you!"_) In a sudden burst of love and sadness, Sora broke out into a hysterical sob and threw herself into Tai's waiting arms. Tai was stunned at first, but then held her tightly, whispering words of comfort in her hair. "Shh... please Sora, please stop crying and tell me what's wrong... please Sora, you know how much it hurts me to see you cry..." 

Sora had heard him say this before... when she was alone and crying in the Digital World, he had said this to her... he really cared. He had helped her then; perhaps he could help her now. She _knew_ he could help her now. She looked up into his eyes and took a deep breath... then told him everything. "Tai, it's my okaasan..."

"Your mom? What's wrong with her, is she okay?"

"No Tai, it's nothing like that... she's been... so cold to me lately."

"But haven't you two always had a rocky relationship?"

"Well," Sora slowly admitted, "yes... but never like this..."

Tai was unsure of what to do in this situation. He always listened to Sora when she told him about her problems... he cared for her, what else was he to do? But this problem seemed so far out of his reach. He usually got along with both of his parents... except for that time when he was younger and his desire to play soccer almost cost him his little sister. But other than that, his home was almost always a peaceful setting.

"What is she doing?" he whispered in question.

Sora's tears refreshed themselves and more and more just kept rolling down her cheeks. Tai gently brushed them away as they came. "She's being so cruel... she treats me like a slave, she doesn't care about me at all... I'm beginning to think she never did..."

"NO Sora, she does care about you, I'm sure of it..." Tai looked down at the hopeless and unbelieving expression painted on Sora's face and thought quickly. "Sora," he continued whispering, "do you remember when your crest first glowed?"

"Yes..." Sora sniffed.

"Do you remember why?" He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and gently caressed her tear-streaked face.

"...yes..."

"That's right baby, your crest of love glowed because you realized your mother loved you. You realized you've always had love... and not just from your mother either," he said softly, sweetly, still holding her tightly... he never wanted to let her go, now that she was within his loving embrace.

"That was 4 years ago Tai, a lot can change in 4 years. Like, for instance, I don't have a father anymore," Sora added bitterly.

"Sora, I know she may seem like she doesn't care, but she really does."

Sora became angry and pulled away from him, standing quickly. "Oh! So screaming at me to get up, dumping an armload of trash in my amrs, making ME put HER things away, making ME run HER errands and putting me in danger when doing so because she sometimes makes me run them late at night is caring for me?" she screamed, gesturing wildly in a desperate attempt to make a point.

Tai's heart sank. He was hoping he could help her, but it just wasn't working. "Sora..." he began softly, "...I'm sorry I couldn't help you..." Tai felt tears rising to his eyes. He looked into hers from numerous moments, and then, sorrowful, salty tears running down his bronzed face, he turned away from her to leave. Sora stood suddenly. 

"Tai, wait!" she called. He turned half of his body around so he could see her. His expression was one of pure sadness. Sora had also begun crying again... "Tai, please... don't you leave me too..." she sobbed. Tai knew she was referring to her father. Sora's father, in the past, had been the only one that she could trust, goof off with, tell her secrets to, talk to... at least besides Tai... and now he was gone. Often Mr. Takenouchi had been the one to try and prevent fights between the two females, and Sora had once said to Tai that he was the only thing that kept her sane at her house. "Tai, I don't think I can stand it if you're not here with me..." Sora cried shamelessly. Tai felt fresh hot tears crawling down his cheeks as he went to Sora and held her. He didn't know what to say in this situation, so he simply held her. He had nothing else to do.

"Shh... hush now... no more tears..."

"T...Tai...I can't..." Sora choked out between sobs and gasps for air.

"Sora, look at me."

Sora opened her tear-weary eyes and looked up into the chocolate brown eyes she had fallen for so long ago. They reflected her every emotion... every pain, every sorrow, every joy, every hope, every problem, every solution, every single feeling that Sora had, she saw in Taichi's eyes. She couldn't believe she hadn't noticed it before... the way that his eyes told exactly what he was feeling. The way he could read her every thought simply by looking into her eyes, and the way she could do the same to hiim... the way that she so easily was lost within the gorgeous depths of his eyes. She stared into them now and slowly she felt pains leave her body, heart, and mind. He pulled away from her for a moment...

"Sora, you're not alone. Trust me. If your mother doesn't love you, _which she does_, then I promise you here and now that I will take you away with me, because I WILL love you forever, nothing will ever change that. If she does anything, I'll take you as my wife and take you away forever, away from your mother, from everything you have trouble with." Sora started blankly at him a moment. "That is, if you want to..."

Sora pulled further away from him and walked over to her flower display and again began to cry as she thought his offer over. She loved her mother, deep down... she had to... otherwise she wouldn't have been crying. But she couldn't live with her mother when she was like this. She wanted to spend the rest of her life with Tai, of that she was certain. She had been certain of that since she first met him. Since the first time they had ever played together... the first time he had looked at her... grinned that funny lopsided grin she loved at her... smiled at her as they sat beside each other in school... the first time he had held her hand... passed her a note in class... sat in detention with her for it and passed her a note in there as well, apologizing profusely... the first time he had helped her up when she fell on the soccer field... saved her life again and again in the Digiworld, like that time she was kidnapped by Datamon... cried with her when she was hurting... when he had stayed with her when her father had died... She had always known that he would be hers forever, and she would always be his. She thanked God for him everyday. He walked cautiously over to her and held her to him. "Tai..." Sora managed in a whisper through her tears as she cried against his shoulder, "take me home with you."

"Okay Sora," Tai whispered back as he rocked her back and forth.

"Okay..."

_A/N: Okay all, that's part one! I have about a quarter of the second part written, and I'm pretty sure there's only going to be these two parts, but there may even be three... hope you guys liked this, as I said, it's kind of a semi-bibliography,,, but my life isn't all yelling! I promise! ^_^ Part two will be coming soon! Luv you guys! Oh, and if there's any part in here where it kinda drops off and starts up again in a different part, tell me... my mind is half into typing this... I'm talking to Tachikawa Mimi right now on the phone and I'm listening to her and blindly typing this at the same time. Don't worry Mimi, I'm hearing every word you say!!! Before you become a memory... OH well I won't give away your next songfic... very cute so far!! Luv ya girl! Bye everybody! Gotta do my three projects that are due tomorrow... eep.   
Kari :)_


	2. ch.2

Trouble At Home: Part 2  
by Kari

_A/N: Sorry this took me so long... I was trying to get my Christmas takari done in time for Lace123's contest, but it didn't happen... I'll be posting it up probably tonight or tomorrow after I get this up. You know all that disclaimer stuff, so I'm not even gonna type it here. There's going to be a part three, I'm working on it now. Funny... this was originally going to be just one big story. Guess not! Okay, the dedications: as always, to Logan, and to Aushie (my personal trainer when it comes to a certain something...1, 2, 3! ^_~), Whit, Hikari-chan (where are you girl!? Still at the airport or what?), R80, Amber(Sora), Meagan, and there are definitely more... if I forgot you, you'll see you in part three for sure. Alright... read, review, all that. ^_^ Thank you all! Kari :)_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tai sat with Sora on the white upholstery that was the family couch in his living room, his arms around her shoulders and her head wearily resting on his shoulder, as they anxiously listened to the one-sided conversation between Tai's father and Sora's mother.

"Kim, I think Sora should stay here for a couple of days....  
Yes, I know, but she really wants to and I think you should let her...  
Please Kim, calm down!...  
We have everything here she needs for her stay, if you would let her...  
Of course we'll watch her for you...  
What's wrong with her? I don't really know the whole story, but she doesn't seem to want to go home for a few days...  
Yes Kim, we'll try to talk to her, to see if she wants to go home early, but I wouldn't count on it. We should just let her stay it out...  
Of course... thank you Kim... We'll take care of her for you... yes, goodbye."

Mr. Kamiya hung up the phone gently, staring at it for a moment after it was returned to its place on the phone tray. Mrs. Kamiya looked in worriedly from the kitchen where she was making dinner for the family and Sora. Sora pretty much was family, she almost lived at the Kamiya's apartment and she considered Tai's parents almost her own. Like her second set of parents. She hoped that one day they really could be her parents-in-law, and she knew Tai did as well. Mr. Kamiya's gaze went from the phone to the floor.

"She said you could stay, Sora," he said softly. Tai squeezed Sora gently within his grasp. "However, we do need to have a talk with you." Tai looked at his parents, as did Sora. Mr. Kamiya cast a glance at Tai and he immediately understood its meaning. Tai began to get up from the couch, but not before hugging Sora and kissing her on the forehead gently. 

"I'll be back in a minute, Sora," he told her softly. Sora smiled after him. After Tai had left the room, Mr. and Mrs. Kamiya sat down on the couch opposite the one Sora was sitting on. There was a brief awkward silence before Mrs. Kamiya finally spoke up. 

"Honey, what's been going on at home?" she began softly, obviously concerned. Sora remained silent, but slowly felt tears welling up in her eyes once more. Her eyes were already very tired from crying so much... 

"Please Sora!" Mr. Kamiya pleaded, a little louder than Mrs. Kamiya had. Mrs. Kamiya placed a hand upon her husband's. 

"Don't pressure her, dear, she's obviously upset," she whispered to him. He looked at her briefly and nodded, but still seemed upset that Sora wouldn't tell them anything. Mrs. Kamiya reached over to Sora and took one of her hands in hers. Sora's gaze remained on the floor. "Sora dear, you know that you are like another daughter to the both of us, and Kari considers you her sister... I don't think Tai considers you a sister though, because he likes you..." Mrs. Kamiya paused and smiled at Sora with a mischievous sparkle in her eye. She looked past Sora and saw Tai standing in the hallway near his bedroom door, blushing furiously, and she chuckled a bit to herself. "But we all love you Sora, as one of the family, and we hope you love us enough to confide in us and tell us what's going on with you and your mother." 

Sora looked up, tears rolling down her cheeks. She suddenly jumped up from her seat and gave Mrs. Kamiya a hug. "Thank you Mrs. Kamiya," she whispered faintly. 

"You're welcome dear, but... call me mom, okay?" Sora laughed through her tears and nodded on Mrs. Kamiya's shoulder. From his place in the hallway, Tai smiled at his mother and his love, and wiped away a tear that was beginning to run down his cheek. Sora broke away from Mrs. Kamiya and took a shuddering breath. 

"Okay... I'll tell you..." she paused a moment and a pleading look appeared on her face, "but can Tai be in here with me?" Mr. Kamiya nodded and looked to Tai, who had already started towards the living room. He sat down next to Sora and put his arms around her, hugging her tightly. Sora tried to begin telling the Kamiyas what the trouble at home was, but she had to cry first... she couldn't just begin then, or else she'd stop in the middle to cry and probably confuse them. She was confused herself. She buried her head in Tai's shoulder and held to him around his waist like she never wanted to let go. Tai laid his head gently on Sora's and rocked her back and forth, as he had at the flower shop where he had found her earlier. He whispered to her, trying to calm her down, and felt a slight blush appearing on his cheeks from the knowledge that his parents were watching the whole thing. Tai opened his eyes and looked to his worried parents. 

"She'll be okay, just let her cry a minute," he mouthed to them. They understood, and Mrs. Kamiya went to the bathroom to get some tissues.

"What's going on?" Kari asked as she walked into the living room, holding the phone to her ear. "Huh? No T.K., I was talking to my par... OH MY GOD!" Kari, with the phone still to her ear, ran over to Tai and Sora. She switched between talking to Tai, Sora, and her parents and talking to T.K., whom she was on the phone with. "Sora, are you okay? Tai, what happened? Sora's here crying T.K., I don't know what's wrong... yeah, let me ask them if that's okay. Tai, can T.K. come over here? He says he wants to see Sora." 

"Sora, what do you think?" Tai whispered to the weeping girl in his arms. She faintly nodded on his shoulder, and Tai relayed the message to Kari, who in turn gave it to T.K. 

"They said you could... okay, see you in a bit... haha, you're seeing me in five minutes and you still can't hang up the phone without saying it... yes, I love you too... okay." Kari hung up the phone and returned to Sora and Tai's side. "Tai, what's wrong with her?" she mouthed to Tai.

"Her mother," he mouthed back. Kari and Tai often mouthed things to each other, so they both knew what the other was saying from across the room... they had plenty of practice. Mrs. Kamiya returned to the living room with a large box of kleenex she always had somewhere within the apartment and placed it on the coffee table in front of the couch Sora and Tai were sitting on. Mr. and Mrs. Kamiya were carrying on a quiet, worried conversation while Tai continued to calm Sora down. Kari sat watching them as Sora cried until she had no more tears. She only got up when the doorbell rang a few minutes later. She opened the door to a worried looking T.K.

"I got here as soon as I could... is she okay yet?" he blurted out even before giving Kari a quick hug and kiss.

"No... she hasn't even told us what's wrong yet," Kari replied quietly. "Come on in though, I think Tai's almost got her calmed down." Kari led T.K. into the apartment and he shut the door behind him before joining Kari on the floor in front of Tai and Sora. 

"Hey T.K.," Tai greeted him quietly. 

"Hey," he replied softly. T.K. took Kari's hand in his and she rested her head on his shoulder. Sora finally stopped crying and looked up at Tai. He smiled sadly at her and gently brushed away her tears. She smiled weakly at him in love and gratitude, and finally noticed T.K.'s presence. 

"Hey T.K.," she whispered. 

"Hi Sora," he smiled at her. Kari gave his hand a quick squeeze and smiled at him. He smiled back and then returned his attention to Sora. 

"Feel better now?" Tai asked Sora, smiling down on her like an angel. She smiled faintly back and nodded, sniffling a little bit. Tai's mother promptly handed her a couple tissues and Sora gratefully took them, rubbing her nose and eyes with them. Kari stood and took them from Sora when she was finished with them and threw them in the small trash can by the TV.

"Sora," Mr. Kamiya began, "do you think you're ready now?" Sora turned in Tai's arms to face them and said she was with a nod of her head. 

"Go on," Mrs. Kamiya probed softly. Sora looked up at Tai, who nodded at her. This seemed to give Sora the strength she needed... the knowledge that Tai was at her side and would never let her go... that he would always be there for her as he had been in the past, and he would give her the support she needed and wanted in this ordeal with her mother. Sora drew in a shuddering breath to calm her nerves and began. 

"Well, as you all know, my mother and I don't get along very well... we never really have. That's why I didn't think my crest would glow when I first discovered its meaning. Tai, Matt, and T.K. helped me realize that my mother didn't hate me, but instead, she kept me on a short leash because she loved me. I thought that after I got back from the Digital World, my mother and I would get along much better from then on. For awhile, that was the case. My mother and I got along great! We went places together, I actually started to enjoy working at the flower shop, and, even though she wouldn't let me play soccer again because my knee was permanently injured... a torn tendon or something like that... my mom let me start playing tennis.

"But then, after a year or so, it began again. It all started with a fight over a messed up bouquet, no big deal... it was a stupid fight anyway. But soon the fights became more constant. My mother threatened to take away everything from me... my computer and internet access, tennis, all contact with Tai and the others... pretty much everything but my schoolwork and my job at the flower shop. Eventually her threats would die down, but as soon as they did, something else would happen and they would fire back up again. When Tai came to the flower shop that one day a couple of weeks ago and bought me those flowers, my mother saw me with them after he had left and thought that I had made the bouquet for myself and lied about Tai getting them for me to cover it up. That was the day she really started being downright cruel to me... she began to treat me less as a daughter and more as a maid, or a slave, or... something." 

Sora's voice caught for a moment and she paused to swallow. Tai took one of her hands in his and meshed his fingers with hers. He gave her hand a comforting squeeze and Sora continued. 

"It's been getting worse and worse everyday... she... started hitting me a while ago..." Sora paused again and hesitated before pulling up the bottom of the back of her shirt, exposing a rather large bruise on her lower back. Mrs. Kamiya gasped in horror, as did Kari and T.K. Mr. Kamiya stared in shock at the bruise. Tai felt anger burning inside him as he gingerly touched the bruise. He ran his fingers across it, feeling the swollen bump where Sora's mother had hit her. 

"Sora... why didn't you tell me?" he asked quietly, trying to keep his emotions under control. 

"I don't know... it just happened the other day... my mom got mad because she burned dinner and she threw the pan at me. I... didn't quite move out of the way in time," Sora replied, flinching a bit when Tai unknowingly pressed a little harder on the bruise. Tai noticed and jerked his hand away from it. 

"Oh God Sora, I'm sorry... I got angry and I didn't know I was pressing so hard..." he apologized profusely. Sora smiled weakly. 

"It's okay Tai," she whispered. She didn't really know anything else to say. Tai placed his warm palm over the bruise and rubbed his hand over the spot, barely brushing the skin. Sora shivered a bit from the touch. "That's the worst she's ever done, but lately... I don't know how bad she could get... I'm so scared that one day she'll go ballistic and really hurt me..." Sora paused again and fought the urge to cry. Kari had tears in her eyes, and T.K. looked in shock at Sora. He couldn't believe his ears. Sora's mother was hurting her this badly? Kim Takenouchi had always been known to be a strong, caring woman... not the indifferent monster Sora had just described. 

Mr. Kamiya arose from his seat. "Sora, you know what we have to do now, don't you?" Sora snapped to attention. 

"No!! You can't call anyone about this," she cried. 

"Sora, this is a serious crime. Child abuse is..." Mrs. Kamiya was interrupted by an outburst of tears from Sora. 

"Mom, what do you think is going to happen to Sora if her mother is sent to jail for this?" Tai yelled angrily, cradling the sobbing Sora in his arms. "She and her mom may not get along, but I know that deep down they love each other. And sure, this makes me angry too, I want Sora's mom to be punished for this just as much as anyone else does, if not more... but... what would she do without her mother?" 

Kari and T.K. looked at Tai, and then to Mr. and Mrs. Kamiya with shocked expressions. Tai had never yelled at his parents before. Mr. and Mrs. Kamiya looked just as surprised as T.K. and Kari. Mr. Kamiya's expression softened first and he took his hand off of the phone. "Okay Tai, we won't say anything... for now though. This has to be dealt with, either with Sora's mother or with the police." Mr. and Mrs. Kamiya walked down the small hallway and into their bedroom, no doubt to talk about what to do.

T.K. and Kari got up and sat on the couch that Tai and Kari's parents had just left. Sroa was still sobbing and Tai stroked her hair with soft, loving motions. "It's okay Sora, they're not going to tell," he whispered to her. Sora lifted her head off of Tai's tear-soaked chest and looked sadly into his eyes. 

"Tai, I don't want my mother to go to jail... but I can't stand what she's doing either!" Tai placed a hand on her cheek.

"Sora," he said, "I'll be here for you the whole time... and remember what I told you at the flower shop, because the offer still, always has, and always will stand." Sora smiled and hugged Tai tightly, pressing her cheek against his chest. She removed it quickly and looked at his chest where her head had just rested. 

"Tai," she laughed, in spite of her tears, "you're soaked!" Tai looked down at his shirted chest and grinned. 

"Well, I have been your tissue for the past two hours you know," he joked. Sora giggled.

"I'm sorry! That was one of your favorites too."

"Sora, it'll wash, don't worry!" Tai smiled and kissed Sora's forehead. "Kari will take you to her room and find you some pajamas, okay?" Sora nodded, and Kari got up from the couch next to T.K. and led Sora to her room. T.K. looked at Tai and frowned.

"You're really worried, aren't you?" 

Tai's expression became very serious and he nodded. "Yeah... I don't want to see her get hurt." 

"Yeah, I know what you mean. If anyone every hurt Kari, I don't know what I'd do to them."

Tai looked at the young blond and laughed a bit. "What's so funny about that?" T.K. asked self-consciously. 

"It's not that," Tai said, smiling. "It's kinda funny that you and Kari are only twelve and you figured out this love thing before Sora and I did." T.K. thought a moment and laughed a little as well. 

"I don't think we figured it out before you and Sora did... we just acted on it first," he said, smiling warmly. "I think you two figured this thing out a long time ago... maybe even before we all went to the Digiworld the first time. I know you knew it by then though." 

Tai smiled. "Maybe..."

Just then, Kari and Sora reentered the living room, Kari still wearing her regular clothes and Sora wearing an old gray Westside Elementary phys ed shirt and blue and green plaid pajama pants. She walked over to Tai and sat down next to him and Kari redeposited herself at T.K.'s side. T.K. looked at his watch. "Whoa... it's almost 8:00... I'd better get going, Matt was cooking dinner when I left." Kari looked into T.K.'s eyes and nodded.

"I'll see you tomorrow then?" she asked, getting up with T.K. and walking him to the door. 

"You know it," he smiled, giving her a kiss. Kari returned it and they broke away. "See you tomorrow, love you," he said, walking out the door. Kari leaned out of it a bit and waved after him. 

"Bye T.K., love you too," she called after him. T.K. looked back, grinned, and waved back before continuing down the hallway and into the elevator. Kari closed the apartment door and walked back into her room to change into her pajamas. 

Sora suddenly yawned. "Tired?" Tai asked her.

"Always stating the obvious," Sora joked. Tai wrapped his arms tightly around her and squeezed her. 

"You know, that hurts," Tai said, a mock pout appearing on his face. 

"Whatever Tai," Sora laughed. Tai hugged her within his arms and Sora let out a small painful gasp.

"Did I hurt you, Sora?" Tai asked worriedly, releasing his grip on her. 

"No Tai, it's just that bruise, it wasn't you." Tai looked at Sora's sullen face and lifted her chin so her gaze met his. 

"Don't worry Sora, we'll get through this." Sora smiled and gently kissed him. He returned the kiss and they pulled away when Kari came back into the room, dressed in a pair of old cotton exercise shorts and a large t-shirt. 

"Tai, go change into your pj's," Sora told him, shoving him off the couch.

"Yes mother," Tai said, sounding more like an intimidated five-year-old than a young man of fifteen, and padded off to his room. Sora looked after him and giggled. Kari sat at Sora's feet and looked up at her.

"Are you going to be alright, Sora?" she asked, sounding worried for her friend's safety. Sora smiled.

"Of course I'll be okay Kari, as long as I have you and Tai and your parents to help me through this... and let's not forget the other Destined." Kari accepted this and gave Sora a hug, carefully avoiding her lower back. Sora returned the hug. 

"I've always considered you my oneesan," Kari said cheerfully. Sora felt happiness arising within her. 

"I've always seen you as the little sister I never had, Kari," she replied. Tai walked back in.

"He Kari, hands off," he said playfully. Kari pulled away from Sora and looked at her brother in disgust. 

"Ugh... that's great Tai," she said sarcastically. "Besides, I've got T.K. for that." Tai's playful expression immediately left his face. His face paled and he frowned. 

"You'd better not be going any farther than I would," he scowled. 

"Bad choice of an analogy Tai, but we don't go _that_ far." Kari laughed at her brother as he glared at her and she walked towards her room. She gave Sora another hug and kissed her brother on the cheek. "Goodnight you two," she said cheerfully before she entered her room. 

"So where do I sleep?" Sora asked Tai as he sat next to her again. 

"You can sleep in my room, and I'll stay out here," he said, putting his arms around her shoulders. 

"You sure?"

"Of course I'm sure," he grinned. To prove it, Tai scooped Sora up into his arms and carried her to his room. Sora giggled, trying to keep her voice down so she wouldn't disturb Tai's parents or Kari, and wrapped her arms around his neck. Tai plopped her down on his bed and covered her with his comforter. "Now you get a good night's rest, 'cause we're going out tomorrow to make up for the date we missed today," Tai said, grinning as he brushed Sora's hair back from her eyes softly. 

" 'Night Tai," Sora whispered.

Tai gently kissed her forehead again and whispered, "Goodnight, my love." He began to lift his head to stand, but Sora put her hand behind Tai's neck and pulled his lips to hers. They kissed passionately before finally breaking apart, their heads swimming. Tai smiled lovingly at Sora and she returned the smile as he walked out of the room. Sora sighed as sleep overtook her. Tai went into the living room and laid down on the couch with a pillow and blanket he had brought from his room and drifted off to sleep.

Ms. Takenouchi walked into Sora's room and gently shook her awake. "Wake up honey, it's time to go," she coaxed. Sora slowly woke up to her mother's smiling face.

"Hi mom, where are we going?" she asked groggily. 

"We're not going anywhere, you're going somewhere." Sora sat up and looked at her mother questioningly. 

"Huh? What do you mean, mom?" Sora looked in horror as her mother's happy expression turned to one that was morbidly dark.

"You've been a bad girl, Sora," she growled. Ms. Takenouchi pulled out a small handfun from behind her back and held it to Sora's forehead. Sora shut her eyes and gasped as she heard a loud bang.

"AHHHHHHHH!" Sora screamed, sitting straight up in bed. Tai came running into his room. 

"Sora, what's wrong!? Daijoubu ka?" he blurted, sitting on the bed next to Sora. Sora was breathing heavily and tears began rolling down her cheeks. 

"My mom... she... she shot me..." Sora cried between gasping breaths. Tai wrapped his arms around her as she cried hysterically. She held her head in her hands and rested her forehead in the hollow of Tai's neck. Tai rested his head on hers and tried to calm her down. 

"It's okay Sora, it was just a bad dream.. just a bad dream..." he whispered in her hair. Kari and Mr. and Mrs. Kamiya rushed into the room. 

"What happened? Is she okay?" Mr. and Mrs. Kamiya asked frantically.

"What did you do, Tai!?" Kari growled, obviously not all the way awake yet. Tai frowned at Kari.

"I didn't do anything Kari, she had a bad dream. She said her mom shot her," he explained. Mrs. Kamiya went to Sora's side and gently stroked her hair. 

"It's okay honey, you're safe now," she crooned. Sora calmed down enough to stop crying, but she still sniffled every so often. Kari went back to bed, soon followed by Mr. and Mrs. Kamiya. 

"Are you okay now?" Tai asked Sora, rubbing her arms gently to calm her down. Sora nodded, and Tai got up off of the bed. Sora grabbed his arms and caused him to look back down at her in shock. 

"Please Tai... stay with me?" she pleaded. Tai smiled and sat back down on the bed. 

"Sure," he said quietly. He laid down closest to the wall and Sora laid down with her back against his chest. Tai took the comforter and wrapped it around the both of them, followed by his arms around Sora's waist. Sora soon drifted back off to sleep, but Tai stayed awake a bit longer. _If only Sora's mother could see what she's done to her, _he thought angrily. A few minutes after Sora had fallen asleep, Tai closed his eyes as well and went to sleep, Sora still in his arms.

The next morning, Sora woke up first. She looked around groggily at her surroundings. She recognized them, but not as those of her own room. _Why the heck am I in Tai's room? _she thought, confused. Then all the memories of the previous day and night flooded her mind. It was then that Sora realized that Tai was holding her from behind. She gently turned to face him and saw that he was still asleep. Sora smiled to herself and tenderly brushed his cheek and forehead with her hand. _He's so cute when he's asleep, _she thought, a grin appearing on her already smiling face. Sora reached over and kissed Tai's forehead gently and ran her hand through his thick hair. It was surprisingly soft for being such a mess. 

Tai's eyes suddenly fluttered open and he yawned, stretching his arms in the air and childishly wrinkling his nose as he did so. His eyes focused and Sora's smiling face came into view. He looked surprised for a moment but then seemed to remember the previous night as well. 

"Morning beautiful," he said with yet another yawn. Tai wrapped his arms back around her and hugged her tightly, kissing her cheek. 

"Morning," Sora replied, giggling. "I thought you'd never get up." Tai smirked and bolted up.

"Well I'm up now!...Whoa..." Tai felt a strange dizziness overcome him. He brought a hand to his temple and shut his eyes, groaning softly. Sora sat up, slowly, and laughed softly. 

"You should never sit up too quick after lying down for so long," she quipped playfully, "it makes you dizzy." 

Tai rubbed his temples and squinted his eyes painfully. "Yeah... no kidding..." he replied. After Tai's dizziness had gone away, he and Sora walked into the kitchen together. The smell of eggs, toast, and bacon wafted into their noses before they had even reached the living room. 

"Well good morning you two!" Mrs. Kamiya said cheerfully, turning to face them from her place at the table. Kari and Mr. Kamiya were cooking breakfast, much to Tai's relief. He didn't think Sora, or anyone for that matter, could handle his mother's infamous cooking. Izzy had already proven that. _(Think back to the movie people... WAS THAT NOT HILARIOUS!! Poor Izzy... ^_^)_ Tai's father turned from his bacon and smirked at the two sleepy-looking teens. 

"You know," he said, mock anger shining through, "normally I'd be angry that you two slept in the same room... not to mention the same _bed_..." Tai and Sora looked at each other and then to the floor, blushing furiously as Mr. Kamiya continued. "But since this is a special case and Kari got such a GOOD picture of you, I'll let it go." Tai exhaled a sigh of relief and Sora giggled... but then the information registered in Tai's mind that Kari took a picture of him and Sora sleeping and his eyes widened in horror. 

"Don't... EVER... show that picture to anyone but us, Hikari Kamiya," Tai growled. Kari only glanced over her shoulder at him and shrugged, a huge grin on her face. Tai was angry, but decided to let it go... for now. 

"Sit down you two, breakfast is almost ready," Kari said, smiling and motioning to two of the chairs at the kitchen table. Tai glared daggers at Kari but sat down anyway. Tai and Sora watched as Kari and Mr. Kamiya set plates and silverware at their places. Mr. Kamiya dished out breakfast to each person and Kari got her, Tai, and Sora glasses of orange juice and Mr. and Mrs. Kamiya their coffee. 

After they had eaten, Mr. Kamiya left for work and Kari left soon after to meet T.K. at his house. Mrs. Kamiya whispered in Tai's ear, "Tai, I need to speak to Sora privately." Tai looked at her questioningly but nodded and stood from his place at the table.

"Okay, potty break," he said, stretching his arms into the air. 

"Eep... Joe was right... too much information IS a bad thing," Sora said, wrinkling her nose playfully. 

"Did we really need to know THAT much, Tai?" his mother asked him. 

"Just thought you might want to know where I'm going," he said innocently, shrugging, and he walked down the hallway into the bathroom. Mrs. Kamiya turned to Sora and looked at her happy face. She knew this wouldn't be an easy conversation...

"Sora dear, are you going to try and talk to your mother today?" she asked cautiously. Mrs. Kamiya was right. Sora's smile immediately left her face. "I mean, we love having you here, but sooner or later you're going to have to talk to her."

"I... I don't know... I don't want to today..." Sora suddenly found the tiled floor to be very interesting. 

"You know you can't put this off for long."

"I know... but I'm not ready to talk to her yet, okay?" Mrs. Kamiya nodded sadly.

"I understand dear, you've only been here for..." she glanced at the digital clock on the microwave, "15 hours or so." She smiled a small, motherly smile at Sora and she smiled weakly back. 

"Thanks... mom," Sora said quietly. Mrs. Kamiya felt tears mixed with joy and sadness fill her eyes as she gently hugged Sora, keeping in mind the large bruise on her back. 

"You're welcome... my daughter," she whispered back. 

Tai was watching from the hallway and smiled, and overwhelming joy filling him. _She's already a part of the family, _he thought happily. Of course, he knew she always had been.

"Jennifer, I was thinking of going to see Kim and trying to talk to her about Sora," Mr. Kamiya told his wife over the phone. Tai and Sora had left hours ago for their date, at 1:00. It was now 4:30. 

"Kyle, I don't think that's such a good idea."

"Why not?"

Mrs. Kamiya told her husband the conversation she had had earlier with Sora. 

"Well, she may not be ready to confront her mother, but I am... she needs to be stopped."

"Honey, listen... I think it's best that we let Sora work this out with her mother instead of us, okay?" Mrs. Kamiya heard him sigh on the other end of the phone. 

"Okay... but I still think we should talk to her." 

"We will, but later, okay?"

"Alright then. I have to get back to work now, I should be home in about an hour or so."

"Okay, goodbye dear, I love you."

"I love you too Jen, bye."

Mrs. Kamiya hung up the phone when she finished her conversation with her husband. The notion of confronting Kim was incredibly tempting. Jennifer Maekawa Kamiya had known Kim Takenouchi since they were in junior high school, and not once had she ever presented herself as an abusive person. But seeing that bruise on Sora's back drove her mad with anger. Sora never deserved to be hurt like that... and as long as Jennifer Kamiya was around, Kim Takenouchi would never... EVER... lay another finger, or frying pan, or anything else, on Sora again. She would make sure of that.

Tai and Sora walked down the small brick sidewalk that went straight through the park in a comfortable silence. Tai had one arm wrapped tightly around her waist and Sora mimicked his action. After having walked around Odaiba for a couple of hours, Sora was ready to sit down for a bit. "Tai, can we sit down?" she asked.

Tai looked at her and smiled. "Sure, whatever you want." Tai led her to a bench that was placed along the path under a large willow tree. Willow trees weren't native to Japan at all _(Actually, I have no idea if that's true or not... just work with me here, okay?)_, as were many of the trees in the park. The entire grounds were practically manmade, or hand-planted, whichever way you'd rather look at it. The long willow branches almost seemed to curtain the young couple from the rest of the world. The surroundings were really hopelessly romantic. Sora sighed and rested her head on Tai's shoulder, and Tai laid his head on top of hers. 

"Tai, do you think it was me in any way?" she asked him out of the blue. 

"Huh? What do you mean?" Tai asked, obviously confused. 

"Do you think it was me that made my mother this way?" 

Tai lifted his head off of Sora's and forced her to look into his eyes. He frowned and shook his head furiously. "Of course it wasn't you Sora, don't ever think that," he said firmly. "All of this is your mother, I don't think it really has anything to do with you at all." Sora sighed forlornly and thought for a moment.

"I think you might be right Tai," she whispered. 

"What do you mean, Sora?"

"Well, there's something I didn't tell your family and T.K.," she continued, feeling on the verge of tears, partly because of the fact that she had held something back from the only real family she had really ever known. 

"Well, out with it then," Tai said almost playfully, trying to make Sora smile. She did, but faintly.

"My father... you remember him?"

"Yeah, how could I forget?"

"Well..." Sora paused a moment, let out a shaky sigh, and told him everything. "He... he used to beat me and my mom. In the daylight he would be the perfect father, but at night... God I was so afraid when it got dark... he'd beat my mother and me, and yell and scream about everything. My mom and I were so afraid of him. I think that's when we were closest... when we would hide in the coat closet together from him before he came home. I thought I'd escaped the abuse when he finally left me and my mom... guess I was wrong, huh..." Sora took in a shuddering breath and felt a tear roll down her cheek. Tai lifted her chin so he met her eyes.

"God Sora... I had no idea..." Tai's eyes were filled with tears of pain for her. He wiped away her tears, paying no heed to his own. "Why didn't you tell me? I could've helped you..." Sora shook her head.

"No you couldn't have, Tai, at least not in the aspect of making my father stop what he was doing. He would've hurt you too, and I couldn't let that happen. But you did help me in another way..." Tai looked questioningly into Sora's eyes. She lifted a hand and placed it on his cheek.

"You helped me have the courage to survive it all, through your love and friendship, Tai. I couldn't have asked for anything more than I have found in you. You're everything I've ever dreamed of, Taichi, from the moment we met I knew I could never love any other as much as I love you. You've been at my side for as long as I can remember, through thick and thin... you've saved my life countless times, and for that I am eternally in your debt. I know my love for you is true, and I would hope that it is at least some payback for everything you've done for me." 

Tai looked through tear-filled eyes into Sora's crimson ones, also shiny with tears. Tai opened his mouth to speak but found that no words could be spolken from them. His love for Sora completely blew him away, as did their love for him, and he could do nothing but this...

Tai leaned forward and kissed Sora passionately. Only out of true love could a kiss like this be born. The world around them melted away and soon it was just them, the bench, and the feeling of their lips pressed together. Sora wrapped her arms around Tai's neck and ran her hands through his soft brown hair. Tai held Sora's waist with one hand and gently caressed her cheek with the other, as he had done before. The fire inside the two elevated to an all-consuming inferno as Tai and Sora realized through their daze that their tongues were pressing together. Tai sighed in complete content within the embrace and kissed Sora like it was the first and last kiss they would ever share. Neither wanted to let the other go. Their tears of love and happiness fell from their eyes and mixed together on the way down their cheeks and fell to the ground as one. It seemed an eternity before they finally broke apart. Tai smiled, a bit dizzy from the kissing.

"God..." he whispered, "I love you so much, Sora." Sora smiled lovingly and wiped away the tears that were still on Tai's cheeks.

"I love you too, Taichi," she whispered in reply.

Mr. Kamiya walked up to the Takenouchi's apartment door. He hesitated a bit before knocking. _Maybe I shouldn't do this... maybe I should let Sora talk it out with her first..._ he thought. His wife had asked him not to confront Sora's mother about this until Sora had spoken with her... but his mind was made up. Seeing that bruise on Sora's back yesterday drove him mad, and he was going to see that Kim was confronted about it. He knocked a bit too loudly on the door and Sora's mother opened it in an instant. 

"Um, Kyle, hello, how are you?" she greeted him, seeming a bit surprised at him being at her front door. 

"We need to talk, Kim," he said flatly. 

"S-sure, come on in." Mr. Kamiya walked into the apartment and looked around. The apartment was a complete disaster. There were dishes everywhere in the kitchen and the living room looked like it hadn't been cleaned in days. 

"What a mess..." he mumbled under his breath. Ms. Takenouchi walked over to the couch and sat down. 

"What did you want to talk to me about, Kyle?" she asked apprehensively.

"Sora," he replied still emotionlessly, sitting down on the chair opposite the couch. 

"What about her, is she okay?"

"No, she's not okay! She's a total mess because of you. Sora spent most of the night last night crying because of what you've been doing to her."

"I...I don't know what you're talking about."

"Save it Kim," Mr. Kamiya snapped, his voice rising even louder, "you know exactly what I'm talking about. You're treating Sora more like a slave than a daughter. You throw a frying pan at her because YOU burned dinner and she shows us a black, blue, and brown bruise the size of Texas on her lower back. She didn't sleep part of the night last night because she had a dream that you walked into her room and shot her in the head. Now don't EVEN begin to tell me you don't know what I'm talking about!!"

Ms. Takenouchi looked utterly shocked. She didn't say anything at first... her mouth just hung open in surprise. "I...I had no idea..."

"Well you should have. She's your daughter for Christ's sake! You should know how to treat her and what's wrong with her and you should know that she's tough as nails on the outside but fragile as stained glass on the inside. She didn't want to talk to you today, and Jennifer asked me not to talk to you about this either, but after what Sora said to us, I could not wait to confront you about this." Mr. Kamiya stopped and lowered his voice... he had been yelling for the past five minutes. 

"I have to get home now, I told Jen I would be home in 5 minutes... I leave you with this information. Think about what you've done... and what you're going to do about it," he growled. Kyle Kamiya turned and walked out of the Takenouchi's apartment, slamming the door hard behind him. Ms. Takenouchi sat in complete silence, the same shocked expression on her face. She couldn't believe what she had just been told... but she did indeed think about it.

After about an hour of sitting on the bench together, Tai and Sora made their way home. They walked in the front door together and saw Mr. and Mrs. Kamiya talking in a hushed tone on the couch. Mrs. Kamiya was obviously upset with her husband, but about what, neither Tai nor Sora knew. 

"Sora, come here a minute sweetie," Mr. Kamiya said quietly, motioning to the couch next to the one he and his wife were seated at. Sora glanced at Tai and he nodded, so they sat together on the couch Tai's father had motioned to. Kari apparently was still out with T.K. because she was nowhere to be seen in the apartment.

"Sora," Mrs. Kamiya began, casting a very peeved look at her husband, "Kyle went to see your mother today..." Sora's eyes widened with fear as she continued. "And he told her what the problem was with you." Mrs. Kamiya looked to the floor. Tai could've sworn he saw smoke rising from his mother's ears. She must have been really mad about this. 

"Jennifer asked me not to until you spoke with her, Sora, that's why she's... upset with me..." Mr. Kamiya sweatdropped. "But after I saw that bruise on your back yesterday I couldn't help myself! I had to confront your mother about it." Sora looked at the floor and nodded.

"What did she say?" she asked flatly. Tai squeezed her hand supportively. 

"She seemed like she honestly didn't know what she had done to you. She said she didn't know what I was talking about when I told her that she was the reason you're acting this way." Tai felt tears begin to fall onto his hand from Sora's eyes. Tai felt anger and sadness arise in him all at once. When he saw Sora like this... he felt every emotion she felt a hundred times over. He wanted to take all the pain away from her. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly, his own tears beginning to fall in her hair.

"I drilled everything into her head Sora, and told her to think about what she did and what she's going to do about it... I guess we'll just have to wait." Mr. Kamiya's gaze also fell to the floor. Sora broke away from Tai, stood slowly from her chair, and walked over to where Mr. Kamiya was sitting. She kneeled in front of him and wiped away her tears so he wouldn't see them. 

"Mr. Kamiya," she said quietly to get his attention. He looked up at her and she could see a distinct fatherly sympathy in his eyes. "Thank you," she finished. Mr. Kamiya smiled weakly. "I don't think I ever would've talked to her about this unless she already knew about it anyway." Sora suddenly hugged Tai's father as she would her own... if he hadn't been such a horrible person.

"You know Sora, you're an incredible girl," Mr. Kamiya told Sora when she had let go of him. "You have such a strength inside of you... if you two..." he glanced from Sora to Tai and back to Sora, "get married someday, I would be honored to walk you down the aisle... since your father isn't around anymore." Sora smiled brightly and again burst into tears. Happy tears, for the second time that day. Tai went over and knelt next to Sora and put a hand on her shoulder. 

"Don't worry Dad," he whispered, "now that I've got her, I'm never letting her go."

_A/N: Part three to come soon... This was only supposed to be one, and at the most, two... guess I was wrong! This is turning out much longer than I thought it would. Well, I'm gonna finish HTML-ing my Christmas Takari now... it's late enough as it is already. R&R, please!  
Kari :)_


	3. ch.3

Trouble At Home: Part Three (FINAL!! YES!)  
By Kari

_A/N: Here's the part three of my latest Taiora series... I hope you all liked the series, cuz this is the last part! YES! IT'S DONE! ^_^ Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot. So don't take it. The song, "Come Home Again", isn't mine either... it was written for a Christian musical called "Where Jesus Is" by Jeff Slaughter and Matt Tullos. Dedication: To all of the people that don't get along with their parents... there is always love in them for you, no matter how deep it is, it's there. Also: Logan, Whit(aka Artisan of the Written Word, or The Writer), Amber (aka Sora), Meagan, Melissa (aka Tachikawa Mimi), Stephanie (Melissa's sister), Hikari, Jennifer (Atryeu), Rob (R80), Diana, Patty, Krystal Clay (if you're out there, I remember you and I miss you! If anyone knows her, email me and tell me... last I knew, she lived in Virginia, and before that, Montana, and before that, in Illinois with me... that was before I moved again...), David, Angelica, Brandy, Krystin, and everyone who reads my fics (if I forgot anyone, I am SO sorry!). And last, but not least, to my parents, for always being there, even though we may not always get along. I love you both. _

_You guys know the drill, read and review, please! ^_^ And I apologize for any typos and all that good stuff in advance, I'm too lazy to read it over to check for them. You all know what I mean to say anyway, don't you? ^_^_

_Kari :)  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

Sora looked up at Mr. Kamiya after she had finished crying. "So she doesn't know?" she asked, her happy exterior disappearing once more.

"No... I don't think she had any idea. But she does now," Mr. Kamiya replied softly. Tai squeezed Sora's shoulder, where his hand rested. Sora placed her hand gently onto Tai's and looked down at the floor.

"I don't want to talk to her... and yet, I know I have to, but I don't know what to say."

Tai sat so that he could look into Sora's eyes. "Sora," he said, "if you don't want to talk to her yet, then don't. If you talk to her now, when you're not ready, you may say something you might regret." He paused and smiled at her. "Plan it out. Think out every word you want to say to your mom. Come up with an answer to every question or reply she might have. I'll even help you if you'd like." 

Sora smiled sweetly and rested her forehead against Tai's. "I'd love that Tai. I know I can't do this without you."

Tai gently kissed the tip of Sora's nose. That's as much as he wanted to do with his parents watching. Tai started to stand and looked at his parents. "Sora and I are going to talk in my room, okay?" he said, without consulting Sora. Sora also stood and nodded. Mr. and Mrs. Kamiya eyed the two suspiciously for a moment, but nodded anyway. As Tai and Sora walked to Tai's room, Mr. Kamiya called after them, 

"I better hear talking in there the whole time you two, or I'm coming in there!" Tai blushed and Sora giggled, her own cheeks turning a slight pink. 

"Sure dad," Tai called as he and Sora entered his room and he shut the door. Sora took a seat on his bed and Tai sat on the chair at his desk. As she sat on the soft bed, bouncing a bit, Sora looked around at Tai's room. On the walls was the occasional sports poster, mostly of soccer players. Tai's floor was littered a bit with a few articles of clothing, a couple pencils, and a book or two. The whole room was unusually clean, at least for Tai. On Tai's desktop were a few pictures. Sora glanced at them. one was of Tai and his sister. Another was of all the Digidestined, including Yolei, Davis, and Cody from the day they had all met together for the anniversary of when the original destined defeated Myotismon. Yet another was of Tai, Matt, T.K., Joe, and Izzy on one of their guys' days out. 

Sora blushed at the sight of another picture... one she recognized at once. It was of Tai and herself, after the big soccer tournament they played in 6th grade together. The two of them had huge smiles on their faces... they had won the tournament. Tai was hugging Sora around her shoulders and Sora was holding a soccer ball in her hands. her mind drifted back to immediately after the game...

***************************** The score was tied at 13-13. Sora kicked the ball softly along with her as she ran down the field. Her adrenaline rushed through her as she glanced out of her peripheral vision to see Tai in his red uniform on one side of her and someone in a green uniform on her other side. She saw no one in front of her but the goalie and the net. Sora gathered up her slowly draining strength and stamina and ran harder. Tai, who had always been a bit faster than she, ran slightly ahead of her.

"Sora!" he shouted, looking back at her. She didn't even have to ask to know what he wanted to do. Sora again glanced out of her peripheral vision to see if anyone was coming up close on Tai's rear. She saw no one but sensed someone coming up on her. Sora quickly passed the ball to Tai right before someone from the other team overcame her and cut her off. Tai trapped the ball with one foot. This move caught the goalie by surprise. Tai took advantage of the opportunity and kicked the ball hard with the inside of his foot. The ball flew towards the goal... and sailed past the goalie's outstretched hands.

"GOAL!! The winners of the Odaiba District Soccer Tournament are the Strikers!" the announcer shouted over the PA system.

"YEAH!!" Tai and Sora yelled together, jumping up and throwing her fists in the air. Tai ran over to Sora and picked her up around her waist, spinning her around as he turned in circles. Sora laughed and hugged Tai around his neck. 

"That was great, Tai! You totally surprised him!" Sora laughed happily.

"District champs!" Tai yelled enthusiastically, still holding Sora. Tai's parents and Sora's mother ran up to the two celebrating children. 

"Hey you two, pose for a picture!" Mr. Kamiya shouted to them, holding up his camera along with Ms. Takenouchi. Sora picked up the soccer ball that had been sitting near her and Tai and walked back over to him. 

"Good idea Sora," Tai grinned at her. Sora wrapped her arms around the ball, which she held at her waist. Tai put his arms around her shoulders from behind and gently placed his chin on her shoulder. This was totally natural to the both of them... they often showed such affection towards each other, as they had been best friends since they were very little, and during their time in the Digiworld they had only grown closer. Mr. Kamiya and Ms. Takenouchi held up their cameras and prepared to take the picture. 

"Say cheese!" Mr. Kamiya yelled from behind the camera.

"Come on Dad, we're a little old for that," Tai quipped, rolling his eyes. "Just take the picture!"

Mr. Kamiya laughed. "Okay son... 1... 2... 3!" Two flashes of light appeared and Tai and Sora's win was captured on film. Tai and Sora turned to each other and began reminiscing on the game, kicking the ball to each other. Mrs. Kamiya sighed from her place next to her husband and her friend from junior high. 

"You know," she started, looking fondly at her son and his best friend playing together in the distance, "I wouldn't be at all surprised if they got married one day."*************************************

"Sora," Tai said, snapping his fingers in front of Sora's face. He had scooted his chair right next to the bed so he was within touching distance of her. Sora shook her head to snap out of her thoughts and looked in surprise at Tai. 

"What?" she asked, looking quizzically at him.

"Nothing... you were in La-la Land there for a minute... wanted you back here with me," he said playfully. Sora blushed and smiled sheepishly.

"I was just thinking about our soccer tournament where we took that picture."

Tai looked behind him at the picture of him and Sora from that day and smiled. "I remember that..." he said quietly, as if his mind was drifting to three years prior as well. Sora playfully hit his shoulder and he snapped back to attention. He chuckled a bit and got up from his chair to sit next to Sora on his bed. Sora flopped back gently to lie on his bed, but her head bumped the wall before it hit the bed.

"Ow!" she half-cried half-laughed, bringing her hand to the back of her head. Tai looked in both worry and amusement at her. 

"Sora, are you okay?" he asked, laughing in spite of himself. Sora was giggling in embarrassment. 

"Yeah... you should really move your bed away from the wall!" Tai laughed and lifted Sora's torso into his arms. 

"Come here you," he grinned. He gently forced Sora's forehead onto his shoulder and rubbed the back of her head where it had hit the wall. He then lifted her head with his hand and looked into Sora's eyes. "Better?"

"Much." Sora and Tai stared into each other's eyes, suddenly becoming sober. Tai leaned forward and gently met Sora's lips with his own. He slowly moved his arms from around her shoulders to around her waist and held her as closely as he could to him. Sora wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. The fire inside them elevated to the same intensity as it had been earlier in the park and the kiss became open-mouth. Tai slowly lowered Sora to the bed and continued kissing her. The intenseness of the kiss made both Tai and Sora's heads swim. They stopped only to breathe before they continued kissing again.

After a few minutes Tai quickly straightened himself when he heard footsteps coming towards his door. Sora sat up quickly as well and held her breath. The door to Tai's room opened and Kari's head popped in from behind it. "Don't you knock?" Tai growled at her. 

"Dad told me to check up on you two since it was getting pretty quiet," she smirked. Sora silently let out the breath she had been holding and Tai glared at his sister. 

"We were talked about when we were little," Tai explained. At least it wasn't a _total_ lie.

"Yeah... I believe you," Kari smiled, and she removed her from the doorway and shut the door. Tai and Sora looked at each other and laughed nervously. 

"That was close," Sora grinned.

"Yeah," Tai laughed. A silence fell for a moment and Tai soon broke it. "So... do you want to talk about what to do about your mom?" he asked her. Sora smiled sweetly at Tai. 

"No..." she whispered, leaning towards him. Tai grinned as he realized what she was doing. "I'd much rather continue our last conversation," she finished seductively, meeting his lips once more.

Ms. Takenouchi walked briskly down the sidewalk, shivering lightly from the cold fall air. She was feeling a bit hesitant... she had thought every minutes about what Tai's father had told her. _I'm the reason for this? I did this to her?_ she continuously asked herself as she walked towards the Kamiya's apartment. Her heart was troubled... _What if Sora doesn't talk to me at all? What if I've lost her forever? What if...?_ He mind reeled with dozens of 'what if's'. She thought over them as she reached the Kamiya's front door. She glanced at her watch before knocking - 9:47 PM. _I hope they're still up, _she thought as she knocked softly on the front door. 

A few moments passed before Mrs. Kamiya opened the door. Jennifer's eyes widened at the sight of her friend of many years at her front door. Usually there was a smile on her face when Kim visited, but considering the events of the past two days, this was probably not a happy visit. "Hey Jen, is Sora here?"

Mrs. Kamiya narrowed her eyes slightly at Kim, to her surprise as well as Kim's. "She's in Tai's room, but I don't know if she's awake... I haven't heard anything out of them for a couple hours." Ms. Takenouchi hesitated again. 

"May I check? I need to speak with her about... about what happened."

Jennifer Kamiya stepped aside and opened the door wider for Ms. Takenouchi to step inside. "Thank you," Kim said in an intimidated tone. 

Jennifer and Kim had rarely fought as preteens and teenagers in junior high and high school, and the pattern stuck as they entered their adulthood. During their rare fights, Kim, being the emotionally and physically stronger woman of the two, was always the more aggressive one... never the passive. This memory and fact struck Jennifer in a way she couldn't explain... it was a sort of pity/guilt/anger/sense of power. Jennifer was in control of this situation... she had control over whether Kim saw her daughter. Mrs. Kamiya savored this strange power for only a moment... Kim Takenouchi was her friend... her best friend. She quickly shook away the strange feelings and led Kim to Tai's room.

"So go ahead," Mrs. Kamiya said flatly, folding her arms across her chest and motioning to the door. Kim cautiously stepped forward and knocked lightly on the doorframe. There was no answer... no sound of movement, no shuffle of feet on the floor walking to the door. 

Kim looked to Jennifer for a moment and cast her a pleading look that said, "Can I look in on her?" Mrs. Kamiya nodded and Kim put her hand on the knob. She twisted it slowly to decrease the noise it made when it spun in her hand. The door lightly clicked open and Kim peeked inside. She gasped lightly at what she saw. "Jennifer..." she breathed, "come and look at this!"

Jennifer uncrossed her arms and looked into Tai's room. Her hardened heart temporarily melted at the sight she saw. There, on his bed, was Tai and Sora, curled up together in a peaceful sleep. They lay facing each other, curled up in a slight fetal position. Their knees and foreheads touched ever so slightly. Tai had one arm draped limply over Sora's shoulder. His hand was softly grasping Sora's. Both Tai and Sora dozed with sleeping smiles on their content faces... the corners of their mouths were turned up just slightly.. you wouldn't have seen it unless you had looked closely. 

Jennifer Kamiya unknowingly smiled at the sight of her oldest child and her best friend's only child sleeping together as innocent children. It was so sweet...

"I won't wake them," Kim whispered, beginning to back away from the door. Jennifer looked questioningly at her friend. She had almost forgotten Ms. Takenouchi was even standing there. The sweet sight of Tai and Sora cleared her mind. Their true love blew even her away. She loved her husband dearly, but not even she thought she knew this phenomenal bond Tai and Sora shared. "I'll try and come back tomorrow," Ms. Takenouchi said quietly as she let herself out of the apartment. 

Jennifer sat down in her small kitchen and glanced wearily at the digital clock on the microwave. 9:54 PM. Mrs. Kamiya sat, supporting her head with her hands, elbows propped up on the table, and allowed the innocent picture of her son and Sora sleeping together drift into her mind once more. It was the last thing she thought about before she went to bed.

Sora ran through the park, Tai grasping her hand. She was laughing, as was he, but she could only faintly hear Tai or herself. The sound was like a summer's breeze... a whisper through the trees heard for only a brief moment before it ceases to be. Time was slow... it was as if it wanted this moment to continue on as long as Sora and Tai wished it to. They stopped... Tai held Sora gently and held one hand in his while his other hand rested on her shoulder. Red, white, and orange rose petals appeared from nowhere and fell from the sky around them. They danced delicately on the breeze that tossed strands of Sora's hair around her face. Tai leaned in on her, smiling lovingly. Sora smiled back as she prepared herself for a moment of bliss...

A flash of light appeared suddenly and all went dark. Sora looked down around her and Tai and saw dead rose petals at their feet, all a disturbing shade of brown. Tai knelt down to pick one up, but the minute his finger brushed the petal, it disintegrated. Sora tried her luck at picking up a dead petal, but it also disintegrated at the slightest touch. The two looked at each other in unspoken horror...

"You two just cannot be," a low, menacing femal voice growled from the shadows. Tai and Sora looked to the voice and saw Sora's mother standing before them. Tai wrapped his arms fearfully around Sora, and she copied the action. Ms. Takenouchi pulled out a large knife and carelessly wielded it in front of Tai's face. Tai tried to focus in on it, but it was so close to his face that even cross-eyed it remained blurry. With an ungodly cry Kim Takenouchi thrust the knife into Tai's face and wriggled it around. Sora pulled away from him in shock and looked at her love, now unrecognizable as the blood poured down his face, fell the rest of the way to the ground, dead. 

"Now it's your turn, bitch," Sora's mother cackled to her. Sora looked on in horror as her mother pointed the knife in her direction and drew the hand holding it back. Sora closed her eyes and the tears relentlessly streamed down her cheeks for her fallen love. She heard the ungodly cry that had signified Tai's death and held her breath as the knife plunged into her chest. 

Sora sat up gasping for breath, dripping in a cold sweat. "Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God..." she repeated over and over, beginning to cry incoherently. Tai immediately awakened and looked at Sora in extreme worry. 

"Sora, what happened!?" he cried, holding her violently shaking form in his arms. 

"My... my mom..." 

"What about her?" Tai growled, becoming more and more angry by the moment.

"She... she..." Sora gasped, trying to catch her breath in between shuddering sobs, "gouged your face.... out with a ... butcher knife and then... she... k-kiled me with t-the... same... knife..." Sora couldn't withhold the tears any longer. She broke down and shook even more violently with every hysterical tear. Tai held her to him in a fatherly yet loving fashion... rocking her back and forth, trying to calm her down.

"Shh... it was another dream Sora, just another horrible nightmare..."

Though Tai was putting out a caring and worried exterior, on the inside he felt extreme rage rising within him. Of course he was worried for Sora, and he cared for her more than anything in the world, but there was more to his feelings at the moment... that indescribable anger. Sora's mother again caused her pain... terror... lack of sleep... he couldn't, and wouldn't, stand for it any longer. 

"Today Sora," he said, frowning at the thought of seeing Ms. Takenouchi, "today we are talking with your mother. Otherwise your nightmares will never stop." Sora somehow managed to stop crying and looked through blurry eyes into Tai's eyes. 

"Okay Tai... just make them stop... they're horrible..." Sora broke down on Tai's shoulder once more. He held her there until she stopped crying... until the first light peeked in through Tai's royal blue curtains.

Mrs. Kamiya peeked in on Tai and Sora at 12:30 PM. They were still sleeping together, in the same semi-fetal position. _I wonder why they haven't gotten up yet... they were the first ones to go to bed last night,_ she thought curiously. A very inappropriate thought began to push its way into her mind, but she quickly shook it away. _No... they wouldn't do that, they're too young... and they both know Kyle and I would absolutely kill them._ Mrs. Kamiya laughed a bit to herself and softly shut Tai's door leaving her son and Sora to their sleep, and walked back into the kitchen to think.

This time, Tai woke up first. He groggily lifted hishead and looked at his clock. It read 12:53 PM. He groaned from the extra fatigue that plagued him from sleeping in. Then he noticed Sora was still asleep. She had a soft sleeping smile on her face. Tai smiled. _God, she's beautiful, _he awed silently. Just then, a ray of light hit Sora's closed eyes from Tai's window. She stirred a bit and wrinkled her nose slightly before her eyes fluttered open. They focused on Tai's smiling face and she immediately smiled. 

"We slept in," Tai grinned.

"There you go again," Sora playfully yawned, stretching her arms above her head. 

"What?" Tai asked, looking innocent.

"Stating the obvious again."

Tai smirked and started to tickle Sora lightly. Sora began to giggle uncontrollably as Tai tickled her. "Okay, okay! Mercy!" Sora cried, laughing hysterically. Sora was still laying down and Tai was sitting up, bent over her. 

"Okay," Tai said, grinning his famous lopsided grin at her that she loved so much. He stared into her eyes, lost in the deep cimson that swirled with love for him. Tai gently bent down so that his lips met Sora's in a tender kiss. He didn't lift himself up until he felt his head start to swim. He slightly lifted his head so that his nose touched hers. 

"I love you Sora," he whispered.

"I love you, Tai," Sora replied, just as quietly. The two of them got out of bed and walked into the kitchen. Mrs. Kamiya snapped out of her thoughts and smiled brightly at the two teens. 

"You two sure slept in," she said, narrowing her eyes. "Anything happen... I should know about?"

Tai and Sora blushed furiously and sweatdropped. "MOM! You know we wouldn't do anything like that," Tai said, completely embarrassed. Sora nodded in agreement, twiddling her fingers nervously.

"I know, I know," Mrs. Kamiya laughed, "I was just teasing you. But seriously... you two were the first two asleep last night, how did you sleep so late?" Sora looked at Tai and the smile left her face. Tai frowned. Mrs. Kamiya looked questioningly at the two teens before her. "What?" she coaxed. 

"I..." Sora began, looking at the floor. 

"She had another dream last night," Tai finished quietly for her. Mrs. Kamiya looked immediately concerned.

"What was the dream about?" she asked quietly. Tai and Sora sat down across from Tai's mother and Sora told her about the horrific visions of her mother first killing Tai and then killing Sora in the same fashion. Mrs. Kamiya's jaw scraped the floor. She snapped out of it and her expression hardened. "Sora, your mother came by last night after you two had fallen asleep," she said quietly. Sora's eyes widened.

"You're kidding! What did she want?" 

"She wanted to talk to you about what Kyle told her."

Tai looked to Sora and smiled. "See? She does love you," he smiled. Sora looked at her hand joined with Tai's and sighed.

"Maybe... but what do I tell her?"

"Just tell her what you feel. Or if you can't, let her start talking and what you have to say will follow." Sora smiled at Tai and kissed him. 

"Thanks Tai," she said, hugging him.

"Anytime sweetie," he whispered, hugging her back and stroking her hair tenderly. Mrs. Kamiya's heart melted as it had the previous night. She looked at the happy couple in a slight envy. An envy of their immense and total love for the other, something she didn't think anyone but Tai and Sora knew. Maybe T.K. and Kari came close, but Tai and Sora were by far the closest two people Jennifer Kamiya had ever seen or heard about in her 36 years of living. She knew about the Digiworld and the adventures that Tai and the others had experienced there... she knew they had spent months there, something must have happened that created the unbreakable bond between the two teens and between her daughter and T.K. Maybe it was because Sora and Tai had known each other since birth. Jennifer arose from the table and left the room.

"I'll... leave you two along," she said teasingly, walking into her home office, which was next to her bedroom. Tai looked into Sora's eyes lovingly. 

"Do you want to talk to her now?" he asked her.

"Well," Sora began, taking a deep breath, "if I don't now, I never will."

Sora and Tai waved goodbye to Mrs. Kamiya as they walked out the door two hours later. "Good luck dear," she called after Sora. Sora looked back at her and smiled.

"Thanks mom," she said. Tai and Sora walked hand in hand towards the Takenouchi apartment. They walked very slowly because it wasn't a long walk... about 5 minutes. Their apartment buildings were in the same complex. Sora looked at the ground as she walked and didn't say a word to Tai. Tai looked worriedly at her.

"Sora, are you okay about this?" he asked her. Sora looked up in surprise.

"Of course I'm not okay about this, but if my mom came over last night, she must care at least a little bit." Tai wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and laid his chin in the hollow of her shoulder and walked in synch with her.

"I told you," he said, turning his head slightly to kiss Sora's neck. Sora blushed a bit and felt a chill run up her spine from the touch. Tai noticed and chuckled to himself. 

"What?" she asked defensively. 

"Nothing... the effect that had on you was kinda funny though." 

"Shutup Taichi," she shot back playfully. Tai shrugged and kissed her neck again. Sora smiled to herself, but then stopped to think about her mother again. Tai hugged her within his grasp.

"Don't worry Sora," he whispered, reading her thoughts, "you'll be fine. You both will be." Sora stopped walking and turned herself in Tai's embrace. Tai looked surprised for a moment, but Sora simply smiled and tenderly kissed his bottom lip. 

"I love you so much, Tai," she said once she had broken away. Tai smiled and kissed her again. They continued walking towards Sora's apartment and when they had reached the door, Sora dug her key out of her pocket. She always carried it with her. Sora reached to put the key in the lock, but hesitated, freezing her hand in midair, mere centimeters away from the lock. She stared at her hand, watching it shake a bit from nerves. 

Tai hugged Sora again and whispered in her ear, "Go ahead sweetie, you can do this... I'm here for you, I know you can go through with this." Sora smiled and put the key in the lock and turned it with resolve. 

"Mama?" she called out into the apartment as she and Tai walked in. No answer. 

"She's not home," Tai commented. Sora laughed. "Oh... did I do it again?" Tai asked sheepishly.

"Yes," Sora said part playfully, part dryly. Tai squeezed her tightly and quickly released the tight hold. 

"Watch it, I know where you live."

"Yes Tai, and I sleep with you... who's in more danger here?" 

Tai audibly gulped but then smirked. "That could be turned the other way you know... _you _sleep with _me_, so you're in danger too." 

Sora playfully punched Tai's shoulder and he kissed her in retaliation. Sora punched him again and he kissed her again. Sora once again punched him, but this time Tai grinned. "You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were doing that just for the kiss."

"You just now caught on?" 

Tai laughed and pulled Sora into a tender, passionate kiss. After they broke away, Sora let out a breath. "Wow..." she said breathlessly. Tai grinned that same old lopsided grin. "Well, we'd better go look at the flower shop," Sora said, beginning to walk towards the door. 

"Now who's stating the obvious?" Tai teased. Sora glared playfully at him and he ran out of the apartment door. Sora ran after him, quickly locking the door behind her as she went. A couple minutes later Tai stopped running, bending over and putting his hands on his knees to catch his breath. Sora ran up behind him and jumped onto his back, throwing her arms around his neck. Tai laughed heartily and began to run with Sora on his back. Sora laughed uncontrollably and then finally stopped. 

"Okay, okay, all playing aside... I have to think of what to say to my mom," Sora said, her laughter dying down. 

"Okay Sora, I won't do it again," Tai laughed.

Before they knew it they were at the flower shop. Sora looked in the window and saw her mother. Ms. Takenouchi had her back turned to Tai and Sora and was working diligently on a display of flowers. Kim Takenouchi seemed like she had been working on it for awhile. It was a beautiful display... the most beautiful in the shop. Sora squinted to see what the display was. She recognized it as the bouquet Tai had bought for her. "Oh..." Sora breathed. Tai looked at her questioningly.

"What?" 

"That's my display... mama's making it better..." 

Tai squinted to see the display as well. He blushed when he realized that it was the same type of bouquet that he had bought Sora two weeks ago. "Those look like the flowers I bought you."

"They ARE the flowers you bought me, Tai."

Tai smiled and put an arm around Sora's waist, hugging her from the side. Sora saw her mother begin to turn and she panicked, leaping to the side of the window so that Ms. Takenouchi couldn't see her. Tai looked strangely at her and looked in the window to see Ms. Takenouchi head to the back of the store. 

"Sora, she's gone," Tai said quietly. Sora let out a sigh of relief and walked to Tai again. "What's the matter?" he asked her, wrapping his arms around her.

"I'm a little nervous..." she admitted. Tai transferred one of his hands from Sora's waist to her chin, lifting it so she looked into his eyes. 

"Sora, you can do this. I know you can."

Sora smiled, her eyes shining, and hugged Tai tightly. Tai hugged her back, closing his eyes to enjoy his true love's embrace.

Ms. Takenouchi came back to the front of the shop. She looked out of the front window nonchalantly only to see Tai and Sora holding each other outside of it. Kim froze and brought a hand to her mouth. _She came..._ she thought happily. Kim could see that Sora looked a little apprehensive, and she wondered what she could do to make her come in. _Please Sora, come home... _she thought pleadingly. Then it clicked. "That's it!" she said to herself, and she again went to the back of the store and came back out with a cd player and a familiar cd.

Sora looked up in love at Tai, smiling brightly. She felt a tear run down her cheek, and Tai kissed it away. "Now come on Sora, let's talk to your mom." Before they could move, they heard beautiful music floating out from inside the shop. A beautiful voice began to sing, and Sora recognized it as her own. She brought a hand to her mouth as her jaw dropped in surprise. Tai recognized the song... it was one that he and Sora had sang the previous year in a musical for church choir. Ms. Takenouchi turned her back to the window so Sora wouldn't think she had seen her.

"_Fallen daughter, wayward son,  
Broken spirit, wounded one,  
Full of promise at the start,  
Listen to your empty heart_

_Come home again, come home again,  
The light is always shining in the darkness and the rain  
Come home again, He'll take you in,  
The door is always open, come home again_

_Bitter journey, rugged road,  
Lost and lonely, tired and cold,  
Turn your collar to the wind,  
Turn around, come home again_

_Come home again, come home again,  
The light is always shining in the darkness and the rain  
Come home again, He'll take you in,  
The door is always open, come home again..."_

Sora looked into the shop window as the song continued on. She had tears running down her cheeks relentlessly. Tai looked in as well, just as Ms. Takenouchi turned and looked right at Sora with tears in her eyes as well. Sora broke away from Tai and ran into the flower shop, straight to her mother, and hugged her. "Mom!" she sobbed. Kim Takenouchi wrapped her arms tightly around her daughter and cried pitifully.

"Oh God Sora, I'm so sorry! Can you ever forgive me? I've been such a terrible mother!" she sobbed. Sora nodded into her mother's shoulder. Tai smiled and walked into the shop behind Sora and stood at a distance from the mother and daughter, feeling tears of joy filling his eyes.

_"Come home again, come home again,  
The light is always shining in the darkness and the rain,  
Come home again, He'll take you in,  
The door is always open, come home..... again."_

Ms. Takenouchi pulled away from her daughter and looked at her through teary eyes. "Sora, I'm so sorry I ever hurt you like that..." she paused when her voice broke and cleared her throat to continue, "I just want you to know that... I'm so, so proud of you Sora, my precious child... I've always loved you, even though I haven't always shown it... I thank the Lord for you every single day Sora, please come home again!" Sora began to cry even harder than she had when she first came in, and hugged her mother again. 

"Well, it's been great living with Tai and his family," she laughed through her tears, casting a glance at Tai and then looked back to her mother, "but it's a lot better living with my own family." Ms. Takenouchi embraced her daughter again. She looked up to Tai and motioned for him to go to them. Tai walked over to Sora and her mother. 

"Tai, I'd like to apologize to you as well," Ms. Takenouchi began. "I know I haven't always been the kindest person to you, especially during this ordeal, but I have always been proud of you, and I've always considered you the son I never had. I wait anxiously for the day that I can really call you son, and I know that day will be just as happy for me as it is for the both of you." Tai smiled and Kim reached out to him with the arm that wasn't around her daughter. Tai joined her and Sora in their hug and the three cried happily together.

"My children... my precious children..." Ms. Takenouchi cried with joy as she hugged Tai and Sora. The sun began to sink below the horizon outside and its reddish-orange light filtered in through the windows, shining on the three people embraced inside next to the beautiful flowers. Sora smiled to herself, felling a great joy inside her heart. 

_Finally... _she thought,_ It's over... everything is as it should be. I've got my mom back._

_A/N: Was the ending okay??? It's kinda rushed, but I didn't really expect to do a third part, not to mention the second part. But I guess if I hadn't it would've been REEEEEEEEALLY long. Hope everybody liked this, and I hope it was a little of help to those of you (including me) that don't really get along with their parents. Keep in mind that they really do love you, even though they might not show it. You were a creation born of the love of two persons, and that love was transferred into you. Your parents do love you, and care for you more than anything. Tell them how much you appreciate them, it'll brighten their lives. Love to all! Review, please? Even if it's really short? ^_^_

_Kari :)_


End file.
